Sunday Independent: With a population of 208 million and an expanding middle class, Brazil is Latin America's largest economy. Now emerging from recession, growth in the market is forecast to stand at 1.2pc for 2018 and 2.5pc in 2019 according to the OECD.

The ‘Intellectual Property Strategy Offer’ supports SMEs to recognise their RD&I related IP assets (including patents, designs, trade secrets and copyright) and to deploy them strategically for the benefit of the business.

Success comes in many forms but recognition by your peers is held in particularly high regard. So when staff at Irish dairy manufacturer Dairymaster learned they had won an Innovation Award at EuroTier 2018 for their new Mission Control milking parlour technology system, they were understandably proud.

Last week, leading executives from major tech and venture companies in Silicon Valley came to Dublin to share advice on how to scale startups, secure funding to accelerate growth, and offer insights into what they look for when acquiring companies. Here are some of the insights shared.